Abstract

The radiative capture cross sections for the compound nuclei
and
have been calculated using both self‐consistent and non‐selfconsistent microscopic theories which, in addition to the standard RPA or QRPA approaches, take the single‐particle continuum and phonon coupling into account. We show that the inclusion of the phonon coupling is necessary for a proper description of the pygmy resonance. Consequently, the radiative capture cross sections and corresponding rates are increased by a factor of 2–3 as compared with RPA or QRPA approaches. We conclude that the present approach provides a more complete and coherent description of the γ‐ray strength function than the previous models used so far and for astrophysics applications in particular, such calculations are highly recommended for a more reliable estimate of the electromagnetic properties of exotic nuclei.